1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to ambulance trailers or housings for transporting horses, or other stock animals.
More specifically, an equine ambulance trailer including a selectively positionable partition or press wall for confining a sick or injured horse is disclosed. The invention further relates to means for selectively lowering the trailer floor into a gradual, inclined engagement with the ground to facilitate easy entry or exit for the animal, and means for selectively raising the inclined trailer floor into a horizontal attitude for transport.
2. Prior Art
The transport of an injured or sick horse poses particular problems not easily handled by a conventional horse trailer. The injured or sick animal is usually disabled and experiencing pain, and therefore frightened at the prospect of walking upon a long and substantially inclined ramp for trailer entry and exit. A horse trailer whose floor could be selectively lowered to the ground for entry or exit, and then returned to a normal height and aspect for transport would make loading and unloading a much safer and less traumatic experience for the horse.
The prior art does show a horse trailer which can be raised and lowered to achieve the objectives just outlined. U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,388, issued to Stone, discloses a wheel retracting and extending mechanism (see FIGS. 10 and 11) for use with a horse trailer. This design, however, is directed towards raising and lowering the entire trailer rather than just the rear portion of the trailer, as in the present design. The Stone design further requires an elaborate towing hitch assembly to allow unimpeded vertical adjustment between the hitch and the frame during raising and lowering operations. In short, the Stone design is unnecessarily complicated in structure, and expensive to manufacture.
Once the animal has been loaded into the trailer, an injury could either be sustained or aggravated during travel if the animal is not properly confined. Heretofore, a cumbersome and awkward girth sling has been placed around the animal and then attached to a hitch, thereby restricting the animal's movement within the trailer. The present invention includes an actuated partition, or press wall, offering a convenient and effective means for laterally confining and securing the animal during transit without the use of such slings.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,224 issued to Pierce illustrates a removable partition 76 in a horse trailer assemblage (see FIG. 6). The partition in Pierce is manually positionable, merely to form a funnel shaped entryway for loading horses. The partition 76, as disclosed in the Pierce patent, cannot confine the horse laterally, nor is it capable of linear, transverse translation within the trailer, in contrast to the actuated partition of the preferred embodiment as disclosed herein.